Thursday, November 03, 2005

Google Offers Index of Public Domain Works

Google Inc.'s Internet-leading search engine on Thursday will begin serving up the entire contents of books and government documents that aren't entangled in a copyright battle over how much material can be scanned and indexed from five major libraries.

The list of Google's so-called "public domain" works — volumes no longer protected by copyright — include Henry James novels, Civil War histories, Congressional acts and biographies of wealthy New Yorkers.

Google said the material, available at http://www.print.google.com, represents the first large batch of public domain books and documents to be indexed in its search engine since the Mountain View-based company announced an ambitious library-scanning project late last year.